HYDERABAD: India’s military history has always been one filled with awe-inspiring tales and gallantry. And every regiment has its own history to tell. One such narration is of the Jodhpur Lancers, a brave group of people who brought glory upon themselves, their regiment, and the country every time they stormed into battle with their heads held high. Brigadier M.S. Jodha, as a tribute to his grandfather Lieutenant Colonel Aman Singh Jodha who served the Jodhpur State Forces for close to 40 years, brings to us ‘The Story of the Jodhpur Lancers: 1885-1952’.
The book is a comprehensive tale of the Jodhpur Lancers from their inception in 1885 to their merging into the Indian Army in 1952. Brought into being by Maharaj Pratap Singh, one of the most valorous men of whom the British were in awe, the Jodhpur Lancers were a loyal, restless lot craving for glory in battle, and made up mostly of Rathore Rajputs and Kaimkhanis. Maharaj Pratap Singh, brother of the then Maharaja of Jodhpur Jaswant Singh, led the men with pride in all matters, including the clamour to be in the thick of battle.
‘The Story of the Jodhpur Lancers: 1885-1952’ most importantly highlights the Lancers’ successful charge of Haifa in Palestine on September 23, 1918 during the World War. To date, it remains the biggest and most successful cavalry charge in history that liberated Haifa from German occupation.
The author explains everything in great detail, using terms of yore as befits a nonfiction narrative about a historical military regiment. It is quite obvious from the way the author has narrated every significant event in this history of the Lancers that a vast amount of research went into the book. The mind-boggling number of old photographs of the different participants, right from a Sowar (a horse-soldier) to the Sardar Bahadur, Maharaj Pratap Singh himself, tell a tale of intense grit and bravado. These photographs have been sourced from a number of places, the largest being the Mehrangarh Museum Trust and the Umaid Bhawan Palace.
Reading this book edifies you about a number of things: how the ruler was called ‘Maharaja’, his brothers, ‘Maharaj’, and the heir apparent, ‘Maharaj Kumar’; how the British thought of themselves as the righteous rulers of all land they set foot on; how there are villages in France where a few Indian soldiers are household names; and most of all, how Maharaj Pratap Singh was sassy for his time, and completely comfortable with his lack of fluency in English.
While the book makes for an informative read, it is also filled with too many details. The events are easy to remember but the number of people involved, their awards, and the battalion names become easy only for someone with a military background. The structuring of the narrative in a chronological order would have made the book a much easier read to help the reader in retaining information better.‘The Story of the Jodhpur Lancers: 1885-1952’ is an informative coffee table read and a chapter in history that must open itself up to more Indians.Publisher: Niyogi BooksPrice: Rs 4,000